ABUJA: A self-acclaimed partner of the Federal Ministry of Youth Development, Comrade Kennedy Iyere, has been accused of defrauding Nigerians of ₦8 million under the guise of facilitating their participation in an international fundraising programme in Europe.
Sources said that Iyere allegedly collected the funds through a travel agency by falsely claiming affiliation with the Ministry of Youth and Humanitarian Affairs and leveraging the ministry’s reputation to deceive young Nigerians seeking overseas opportunities.
In a petition obtained on Wednesday, a travel agent identified as Oyebade alleged that Iyere presented himself as an official partner of the ministry working through the Youth Integrated Economic Development Programme (YIEDEP).
According to the petition, Oyebade’s firm, Joe Richmond Travels, entered into an agreement with Iyere after he assured them that the programme was government-backed. On the strength of this claim, the company paid ₦8 million on behalf of two clients scheduled to participate in Europe-based fundraising campaigns in September and October 2025.
However, the arrangement reportedly collapsed when the clients were denied access to all the events Iyere had promised.
Our clients showed great interest in joining the Europe fundraising campaigns, but to our utmost amazement, neither of them was able to attend any of the events as promised,” Oyebade said.
He added that when concerns were raised, Iyere dismissed them, insisting that the programme was legitimate and endorsed by the ministry, and not a scam.
The petition further alleged that Iyere later failed to honour his commitments, refused to issue refunds, and stopped responding to calls and messages.
It became a rude shock that Mr Iyere has consistently refused to refund our money and has ignored all our calls and messages since October,” the petition stated.
Oyebade also claimed that efforts to get the Ministry of Youth and Humanitarian Affairs to intervene yielded no result, leaving the victims without recourse.
He called on security agencies to urgently investigate the matter, recover the funds, and prevent other young Nigerians from falling victim to similar schemes disguised as empowerment or international development programmes.
When contacted last week, Iyere reportedly promised to refund the money within days. However, as of the time of filing this report, Report confirmed that no refund had been made.
